Class and the Happiness of Nations

By Richard Florida

Over the past week, I've discussed the role of class in economic
performance, innovation, and entrepreneurship. But what about
happiness?

There is considerable debate over the happiness of nations.
The Easterlin paradox
suggests that there is little or no relationship between a country's
economic development and its level of happiness in comparison to
others. An influential paper
by economists Justin Wolfers and Betsey Stevenson contradicts the
Easterlin paradox, finding a clear relationship between economic
development (measured as GDP per capita) and happiness. In other words,
countries that increase their wealth become happier, and countries that
increase their wealth more than other nations become happier than
others.

But what about the effects of class on happiness? Are societies in
which a greater share of workers are members of the creative class on
balance happier than those with large working class populations?

The results could not be more striking. Happy nations appear to be creative class nations.

Nations with a large concentration of the working class are far less
happy. In fact they appear downright unhappy. Perhaps Marx was right
after all about the alienation that comes from industrial work - or, in
this case, the unhappiness found in working class locations.